Seepage-Induced Erosion in Granular Soil and Consequent Settlements
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 9, Issue 4
Abstract
The erosion of the fine fraction of granular soils due to seepage is a possible cause of the settlements of shallow foundations. Here the problem is tackled with reference to deep pumping wells to be installed in an urban area. First, the results of laboratory tests on reconstituted soil samples are illustrated that provide the quantity of eroded particles during time depending on the imposed hydraulic gradient. Based on the experimental data, an incremental erosion law is proposed that has been implemented in a finite-element code for erosion-transport analysis. After describing the steps of the numerical solution procedure, the results of two- and three-dimensional finite-element calculations are discussed. They provide an estimation of the quantity of eroded material in the vicinity of the pumping wells and of the possible consequent settlements of nearby buildings.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank Livio Locatelli of Golder Associates for his technical suggestions and stimulating comments.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 9 • Issue 4 • August 2009
Pages: 187 - 194
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 26, 2008
Accepted: Mar 24, 2009
Published online: Jul 15, 2009
Published in print: Aug 2009
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